Terror returned to the streets of Europe on Thursday when a van ploughed into a crowd of people in Barcelona, killing at least 13 and injuring more than 100 others.

Footage of the scene showed dozens of bodies sprawled across the pavement in Las Ramblas, a street popular with tourists. Two men, one Spanish and one Moroccan, were arrested but police said the driver of the van was still at large.

In the early hours of Friday morning, in the town of Cambrils, 70 miles away, at least six people were hurt when "alleged terrorists" drove into pedestrians before being shot dead by security forces.

The five attackers in the Audi A3, who were wearing bomb belts, were shot dead, police said. The bomb belts were detonated by the force's bomb squad.

Two of the injured in Cambrils were in critical condition, emergency services said. Police say the attacks were linked.

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Spanish policemen patrol the street after five suspected terrorists were killed by the police in CambrilsCredit: EPA

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) claimed responsibility for the Barcelona attack as Joaquim Forn, Catalonia’s police chief, warned: “Unfortunately the number of fatalities will likely rise.”

On Thursday night it was confirmed that a three-year-old child was among the victims and 15 people people were in a critical condition.

Liam Searle, 22, from Chichester, West Sussex, said he was skateboarding along the road at around 5.15pm with his headphones on when he heard “massive bangs and thuds” which he thought were gunshots.

“I realised it was the van next to me hitting people.” he said. “The van had stopped right next to me. That’s when two men got out and I ran for my life.”

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A handout photo made available by Spanish National Police shows Driss Oukabir, alleged to have rented the van which was used to crashed into pedestrians in Las RamblasCredit: Spanish National Police/ HANDOUT

Driss Oukabir, a 28-year-old of Moroccan origin, was suspected of having rented the van used in the assault. Spanish reports later said he had handed himself in to police, who were investigating whether his brother had stolen his documentation.

Two explosions at a house in the town of Alcanar, 120 miles south of Barcelona, on Wednesday night were last night linked by police to the attack. Officers said the residents had been preparing explosives. At least one person died and more than 16 were injured in what was initially thought to be a gas explosion.

Theresa May, the Prime Minister, condemned the “terrible” Las Ramblas assault and said Britain stood firmly with Spain against terrorism.

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Pictured: the van reportedly used in the attack

Donald Trump, the US president, tweeted that the US “will do whatever is necessary to help”, adding: “Be tough & strong, we love you!.” The Spanish royal family described the attackers as “assassins, criminals who won’t terrorise us”, while Mariano Rajoy, the Spanish prime minister, said the attack was “jihadist terrorism” requiring a global response.

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Barcelona terror attack, in pictures

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This was the eighth terror attack using a vehicle in Europe in the past three years, following the Nice assault in July 2016 that killed 86 and attacks on Westminster Bridge and London Bridge earlier this year that left four and eight people dead.

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Mapped: Barcelona van attack

Earlier this year, jihadists warned that they would be seeking to take their campaign of death and destruction to popular areas in the Mediterranean.

Nationalities of victims

The injured and dead came from 24 different countries, the Catalan government said on Friday in a statement, ranging from France and Germany to Pakistan and the Philippines.

Belgium said one of its citizens had died in the Las Ramblas assault, while The Hague said three Dutch were injured and a Greek diplomat reported three nationals had been wounded - a woman and her two children.

In Australia, Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop confirmed that four Australians had been hurt in the attack, while one person is missing.

Five terrorists were wearing bomb belts, police say

Police say the seven people were hurt when five "alleged terrorists" drove into pedestrians in the Spanish seaside resort before being shot dead by security forces.

The five attackers in the Audi A3, who were wearing bomb belts, were shot dead, police added. The bomb belts, were detonated by the force's bomb squad.

One of the injured in Cambrils is in critical condition, emergency services said.

"The alleged terrorists were in an Audi A3 and apparently knocked down several people before coming across a police patrol and a shoot-out ensued," said a spokesman for the regional government of Catalonia, where Cambrils is located in Spain's northeast.

Scene in Cambrils

Fifth suspect dies in Cambrils

The police force for Spain's Catalonia region says the fifth suspect shot in the resort town of Cambrils has died and six civilians have been injured.

Police had earlier said four suspects had been killed in the town south of Barcelona during a police operation to "respond to a terrorist attack."

The confrontation came about eight hours after the Barcelona attack.

The regional police said they cannot say how the six civilians were injured at the moment.

They earlier tweeted that they are investigating whether the Cambrils suspects were wearing explosive vests. Its officers planned to carry out several controlled explosions.

The force says it is working on the theory that the Cambrils suspects were linked to the Barcelona attack, as well as to a Wednesday night explosion in the town of Alcanar in which one person was killed.

Suspected attackers killed in Cambrils

Spanish police have killed several people in a coastal town south of Barcelona in response to a terrorist attack.

Reports of an operation by security services in Cambrils emerged shortly after 1am local time, some eight hours after a van driver killed 13 people and injured more than 100 in a terrorist attack in Barcelona.

Bystanders could be seen running for cover and several gunshots heard in footage posted on social media that appeared to have been filmed on the town's beachfront promenade.

We work with the hypothesis that the incident of #Cambrils respond to a terrorist attack. We have shot down the perpetrators

Explosion on Wednesday in Alcanar linked to Las Ramblas attack

Spanish newspaper El Pais reported that an explosion on Wednesday night in Alcanar, 120 miles south of Barcelona, is now believed to be connected to Thursday's attack.

At the time police thought it was a gas explosion. The house was destroyed, with six people injured and one dead.

Inside the house, which police believe was occupied for a few months, they found around 20 canisters of butane and propane gas.

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General view of the debris of a house after it completely collapsed after a gas leak explosion in a real state in the village of Alcanar, Catalonia, northeastern Spain, 17 August 2017Credit: EPA/JAUME SELLART

A woman was found dead inside and a man, discovered among the rubble, was taken to hospital in a critical condition.

Theresa May: 'UK stands with Spain against terror'

Britain "stands with Spain against terror", Prime Minister Theresa May said following the deadly attack.

"My thoughts are with the victims of today's terrible attack in Barcelona and the emergency services responding to this ongoing incident. The UK stands with Spain against terror," the prime minister wrote on Twitter.

'Second van' linked to attack

Tourists speak of shock

Police stationed at the cordon a block away from Plaza Catalunya, on Passeig de Gracia, say they have no information what is happening inside. Confused tourists, shoppers and business owners gathered at its edges, awaiting some word or direction as to what to do.

Ines Prauka, a 49 year old tourist from Berlin arrived with her 14 year old daughter Adel for a one week holiday just an hour or two before the attack.

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Injured people are treated by emergency services at the scene

They had just checked in to an apartment at the top of the Ramblas and come out in search of a supermarket to find pandemonium on the street.

"Everybody was running and panicking and crying," she said. Ambulances arrived and police told them to run away, but they did not understand as the orders came in Spanish, she said, and had to ask.

Ms Prauka was clearly in shock and struggled to speak at times. "It's unbelievable. Two hours in Barcelona and this. We are shocked.

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Policemen accompany an elderly woman near a cordoned off areaCredit: PAU BARRENA

"It's the first time we've been in a situation of everyone crying and panicking around us, we didn't know if it was terrorism, a bomb."

Berlin had been touched by terrorism but they had never experienced it personally, she said, adding that she did not know where to take her daughter now.

"A one week summer holiday in Barcelona and that was the start," she said.

Attacker used rented van

Catalan police say they are treating the crash as a suspected terrorist attack but cannot yet confirm the motive.

It has also been reported that the attack vehicle was a rented van. That would suggest, if this is confirmed as a terrorist attack, that same terrorists are imitating the perpetrators of the London Bridge attack, where a rented van was also used.

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Injured people react after a van crashed into pedestrians in Las Ramblas, downtown Barcelona,

Footage appears to show crash vehicle

Confusion and panic in Las Ramblas

Telegraph reporter Hannah Strange has arrived at Las Ramblas, where she says there is a very heavy police presence, confusion, and helicopters flying overhead.

Local media is reporting is that several people have died.

The Spanish newspaper El Pais quoted unnamed police sources as saying the perpetrators of the crash were holed up in a bar in Tallers Street. There was no immediate police confirmation of the report.

Inside the glossy stores of Passeig de Gracia, shoppers and staff sheltered behind glass windows. Many streamed away from the cordon but others stayed on the street in an eerie limbo, the ambulances racing past the only clue as to the status of the situation.

Several bodies lay in street in aftermath of attack

In a photograph shown by public broadcaster RTVE, three people were lying on the ground in the street of the northern Spanish city Thursday afternoon, apparently being helped by police and others.

Videos of the scene recorded people screaming as they fled.

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A police officer cordon off a street in Barcelona, Spain

Police cordoned off the broad, popular street, ordering stores and nearby Metro and train stations to close. They asked people to stay away from the area so as not to get in the way of emergency services. A helicopter hovered over the scene.

The scene in La Rambla

Las Ramblas

Area evacuated

The local police force was said to be evacuating the area including the nearby main square the Plaza de Catalunya. Shops have put up their shutters with shoppers inside, newspaper La Vanguardia reported.